Chris Holt watched the calendar turn, game after game, and decided to go in and chat with Peoria Rivermen coach Davis Payne last week.

A few hours later, the Rivermen goaltender was gone. Not in a bad way. In an NHL way.

On Saturday, Holt went up to the St. Louis Blues when the parent club cleared veteran 2008 NHL All-Star Manny Legace through NHL waivers and sent him down to Peoria.

“I went in to talk to Davis, just to find out what the plan was in Peoria for me, let him know that I was ready to play, wanted to play,” Holt said. “Next thing I know, I’m on my way to the Blues.

“It’s been an amazing season. I started in the ECHL at Alaska, won that (NHL) contract from St. Louis and a job in Peoria. Now I’m in the NHL again, and it’s such a surprise.”

The Blues are likely to rotate Holt and Rivermen rookie Ben Bishop in the St. Louis backup role behind Chris Mason, so neither rusts.

Legace, meanwhile, comes to Peoria on the final year of a two-year deal that will pay him $2.5 million this season. The Rivermen plan to start him Wednesday in Carver Arena. How long will he stay?

Well, pro-rated, he has about $900,000 left to collect on that contract between today and the end of the season. If the Blues place Legace on NHL re-entry waivers, another team can claim him for half that. The Blues would have to pay the other half.

So Legace, an All-Star just a year ago, could be attractive at a $450,000 price tag to teams that need goaltending, like Tampa Bay and the New York Islanders, or a team in the playoff hunt that catches an injury.

At some point, the Blues are likely to dangle Legace on those waivers.

“Someone can get Manny pretty cheap down the stretch,” Holt said. “In the meantime, I think Legace’s presence in Peoria will be good for Ben Bishop.

“Ben needs a guy who can push him in a good way, challenge him for minutes in the net. And Manny certainly would be that guy. For Manny, this is a chance to go there and be a true mentor to that kid.”

Legace will be the highest-paid player in Peoria’s 27-year franchise history. Blues goaltender Patrick Lalime was on a $2.4 million contract when he came down in 2005-06 and resurrected his career in Peoria.

TALK NET: Payne, when asked what it is that makes the Milwaukee Admirals — not picked to be a major contender at the start of the season, but now with the fourth-highest point title in the AHL — a runaway force in the West Division lead:

Page 2 of 2 - “They work consistently, and within their system, their structure. They have a strong transition game. They go to the net well and have great special teams. They have two good goaltenders. It’s not just one thing with them. Add all those together and it’s a dangerous mix.”

CHEVY CHASE? Payne decided to fit in a quick workout in the Rivermen exercise room Wednesday before the team rode the bus to Chicago.

In a move reminiscent of Chevy Chase’s portrayal of President Ford years ago on “Saturday Night Live,’’ Payne ended up losing a bout with a treadmill.

The coach apparently was removing a sweatshirt while on the treadmill when he inadvertently knocked his glasses from his face and fell off. He smacked his face and top of his head on parts of the machine.

Payne needed nine stitches to close cuts below his left eye and on top of his head. The Wolves took no mercy on him; they made sure he appeared on the video board at Allstate Arena that night in Rosemont.

But as Chase would say, jumping back up to his feet: “I’m all right!”

The treadmill, however, is rumored to have a lower-mechanism injury.

RIVER READINGS: The Rivermen called up defenseman Alexander Hellstrom from ECHL Alaska on Monday. He played nine games there, with three assists and a +4 rating. ... Peoria right wing Matt Foy has completed a six-game suspension from the AHL for leaving the bench to get into an altercation in a game Jan. 21 at Houston. He’ll be available to play Wednesday. ... Former AHL MVP Darren Haydar notched his 500th AHL point Saturday with a goal in Grand Rapids’ 4-1 loss to Lake Erie. ... Goaltender Mike McKenna, who was in camp with the Blues and Rivermen last season, notched a shutout in his third NHL game Saturday to lead Tampa Bay to a 1-0 win over the Islanders. ... San Antonio, which lost 17 consecutive games earlier this season, has escaped the West Division basement. San Antonio has passed Quad City by one point. ... The Rivermen have two games with Rockford and one with Chicago this week, and they are huge. They enter the new week in sixth place, six points behind Rockford and three behind Chicago, with games in hand on both teams in the playoff race. ... Former Rivermen and Blues goaltender Curtis Sanford also cleared NHL waivers, when sent down by Vancouver, and in five games so far with Manitoba has a 1.05 goals-against average and a .960 saves percentage. ... Bishop has started 11 of the last 12 games for Peoria, during which he has a 3.05 goals-against and an .898 saves rate.

Dave Eminian is a Journal Star sports reporter. He can be reached at deminian@pjstar.com or 686-3206.